I Couldn't Bend
by islashlove
Summary: The Governor's thoughts before, during and after the fall of the prison.


**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is from The Walking Dead. **

**Warning: The death of Hershel. Death of the Governor. **

**Beta: Yes, I would like to say thank you to my Beta jerseybelle **

**Author's Notes: This is in cannon with the death of Hershel in season four. **

**This story is the response to a one word challenge from the Facebook group FanFiction .net Writer's Unite. The word this week is Unyielding. **

**Story Notes: The Governor's thoughts before, during and after the fall of the prison. **

**I Couldn't Bend **

**Chapter 1: Even if I Wanted To **

As the tank he was in moved slowly towards the prison, the Governor thought about how this would all go down and if Rick would put up a fight regardless of whether he had Hershel and Michonne. To protect Lilly and Meghan, he had left them on a small island in the middle of the river. They would be safe there until he returned for them.

He didn't want this…not really. After the fall of Woodbury and then his men abandoning him, he had given up. But then, in his travels he came across Lilly, her daughter Meghan and Lilly's sister Tara, all living in that house with her dad and something inside of him changed. He wanted to be there for them, to protect them and when their father died, he was. He was there to put him down before he had a chance to bite anyone.

But then the walkers came again and they had to leave where they were for it was no longer safe, as if anywhere would be safe. They kept on moving and eventually met up with Martinez and his group. Damn it, why did he teach Martinez how to dig those pits? If it wasn't for that pit he fell in, they would have gotten away. Instead he was pulled back into a community he didn't want to be in.

He doesn't know how or why it happened, but being there in that camp of survivors brought back the need to be in control. He didn't want it, he didn't need it, but it didn't stop him from killing Martinez. The pull grew stronger.

Remembering that Rick and his people were safe in the prison nearby caused his hatred of Rick to grow once again and as he took control of these new survivors, he knew that with them, he would be able to destroy the prison and Rick Grimes.

Now, he is standing here face to face with Rick. Just two mesh fences between them and even now, Rick won't yield to him. They both stood there, unyielding to the other. They both want the same things. Both of them want safety for their groups and they both want the prison, but where Rick was willing to compromises so that both groups could live safely within the walls of the prison, the Governor wanted it all to himself.

Why, why won't Rick yield to him. He has offered him and his people safe passage from the prison. He has even threatened to kill Hershel if he doesn't leave, but Rick won't yield. Even now, with a tank threatening to blow the prison apart and one or two of his own people's lives at risk, Rick still stands unyielding to him.

What Rick says makes sense. Sure they could live in different parts of the prison and never see each other, but he wouldn't, he couldn't yield, not now, not after all he has done. Yielding would mean he was wrong and he couldn't be wrong; after all, he was an unyielding force that would win at any cost.

Once again, the words come from Rick's mouth, but this time The Governor doesn't hear him and as he calls Rick a liar, anger grips him. He will show this man that won't yield to him and with that, Hershel pays the price and his head.

As hell breaks loose, as the bullets start to fly and the tank starts to move, the ones he did this all for appeared. Lilly was carrying the lifeless body of Meghan; the bite mark on her arm can be clearly seen. Once again, because he will not yield to others, he has lost someone he has cared for. Taking her small body, he stops the chance that she will become another Penny to him and he pulled the trigger. Laying her dead body on the ground, he is now truly ready to destroy all that Rick has, because he was so unyielding against his forces.

As he follows his army through the broken fences, past the abandoned bus, he wasn't expecting Rick to jump him. He was happy to fight it out with Rick, especially since Rick had been shot in the leg. But even now, as the prison falls and all is destroyed, neither man is willing to yield to the other and as the two groups battle for their lives, Rick and the Governor fight hand to hand.

Rick is weaker, and as the Governor's hands grip around Rick's throat he knew he would finally make Rick yield to him as he takes his life. Yet, even now, Rick fights, still not willing to yield to the stronger one of them.

And just as he was so sure he had won, Michonne, the other one that wouldn't yield to his will, intervened. He didn't see it coming. He didn't hear her until it was too late and by then, her blade was through him and Rick was free. For a moment, Michonne stood above him. The hatred in her eyes gleamed and so did the sward in her hands, but instead of killing him outright, the Governor just had to watch the two that were unyielding to his will walk away and with his dying breath, he prays that they will die a painful death.

Suddenly, a shadow covers him and when he looks up he sees Lilly standing over him. Gun in hand she takes aim, but the Governor refuses to beg for forgiveness. Refuses because he could not, would not, yield to Rick. She lost her family, her daughter, her sister, because of him and he will not rob her of her revenge.

And as Lilly pulls the trigger, he wonders what would have been if he hadn't been the unyielding force that he was, and had just bent a little to Rick. But as the bullet destroys his brain for good, he will never know the answer.

**The End **

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story. **


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